During the eighteen hundreds, lime kilns like this restored double kiln were used to burn limestone into lime before large-scale production techniques made them outmoded. This kiln had two circular pots built of schist stone, which allowed increased production by holding the limestone as it burned. To produce lime, iron bars were laid across the bottom of each pot, then alternating layers of six feet of small coal and sixteen to eighteen inches of limestone rocks were stacked to the top. The kiln was covered and burned for about two weeks, then after cooling for one week, the iron bars were removed, the burned lime fell, and it was shoveled out from the bottom. Much of the lime produced here was shipped by canal to other areas.